


Muffins, Swings and other emotional things

by raven_of_death



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Angst, Feelings, Fluff, M/M, Swing Scene™, hopefully I'll remember to update this reasonably often, will update as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-11-12 08:42:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18007583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raven_of_death/pseuds/raven_of_death
Summary: A look into Cyrus and Tj's relationship over time. (Feat. multiple swing scenes and a lot of emotional turmoil)





	1. The beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! I hope you enjoy this, i'm not entirely sure how long it's gonna get. This chapter's kind of just the setting (basically me writing the first swing scene through Tj's head) but the following ones are more exciting
> 
> (I have not proofread this so if there are any mistakes here's me apologising in advance)  
> (leave kudos if you like and a comment if you're feeling extra funky!!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some setting the scene

Tj can’t recall what possessed him to walk up to the boy on the swings that day. He recognised him as Cyrus from the cafeteria, Buffy's friend. The boy that was sat there was swinging gently and singing a stupid song to himself. Something about legs going up and down. Normally he’d find that sort of thing annoying, but he found it… slightly endearing coming from this particular boy. He wasn’t sure why he was so taken with Cyrus, given that he’d only really talked to him one time. They barely knew each other.

“Nice song,” he said as he reached the other boy. He internally face palmed at how stupid he sounded. Way to make a good first - well, second - impression. The boy on the swings came to a stop and looked over at Tj. He looked a little bit surprised to see him standing there. Other people always thought Tj knew exactly what to say and was really good at the whole conversation thing, but honestly he felt like he was just winging it and hoping for the best. He hardly ever knew what he was going to say right up until it left his mouth.

“What do you sing when you’re on the slide?” he asked. He was pleasantly surprised when Cyrus started singing his slide song. He looked a little bit embarrassed or something, Tj couldn't tell. In any case, he looked like he was getting ready run and hide at any second.

“Huh-” Tj said, tilting his head to the side, “-did not expect you to have a song for that.” Cyrus just smiled.

 “Chocolate chocolate chip muffin, right?” He asked. He already knew the boy’s name was Cyrus, but he didn’t want him to know that yet. It would affect his whole cool and detached demeanour - not that someone like Cyrus would care about that.

“Scary basketball guy,” Cyrus said in reply. It stung a little to hear that's what Cyrus thought of him as, even though he knew that’s what everyone else thought too.

“Actually… Tj.”

“I know,” he said, smiling. “Cyrus.” He added, pointing to himself.

Tj thought about what he could say. The only phrase stuck in his head was you come here often? But that sounded too much like a pick-up line. For all that he was considered cool or whatever, captain of the basketball team, he didn’t really know how to deal with social situations and people in general without being… mean. his reputation was a useful mask to hide behind in situations like this, but he found he didn't want to hurt Cyrus' feelings. Plus, he found being mean so exhausting sometimes.

“So, you… hang out here a lot?” he asked instead. It sounded... lame to him.

“Only when I’m feeling bad about myself. So, fairly often.”

“Hm-” he nodded his head, “-does it help?”

“Helps me,” Cyrus shrugged. “Go on-" he said, gesturing to the swing, "-you look like you need it.”

Tj sat in the swing he’d previously been standing next to and kicked his feet to get his momentum going. He was surprised to feel it actually helping a little. The higher he swung,

the more weightless he felt. It was sort of like time was stopping a little, nothing could touch him up here. All of his problems couldn't follow him to up there.

“Wow, this does make me feel better,” he said after a while.

“What do you need to feel better about, you’re the captain of the basketball team.”

“You don’t know me-” he shook his head, “I got stuff.” It was always upsetting to hear people try to sweep his problems away, just because he was athletic and played basketball.

“Bet you I got more stuff.” Cyrus quipped and just like that, Tj felt better again. It was fun to talk to Cyrus. He was a funny guy. Tj found himself smiling despite his best efforts not to.

“Yeah? Bet you I can swing higher,” he bit back, leaning his body back to get more movement in his swing.

“I’m afraid to swing higher. That’s part of my stuff.” _Is everything he’s saying secretly hilarious or is it just me,_ Tj thought to himself.

They swung for a few minutes, Tj building up momentum until he was turning almost horizontal at the top of each swing. Cyrus stayed at his low swinging speed. Tj wondered momentarily if all Cyrus needed was a push in the right direction to get him out of his comfort zone.

“This is as up as I go,” Cyrus replied to some comment Tj made about swinging higher and it’s all Tj needed to make up his mind.

He used the speed of his swing to jump off and run around behind Cyrus, pushing him to swing higher and higher. He knew he’d made the right choice when Cyrus giggled and said something like “that was exhilarating!”

Of course, Buffy had to choose that moment to run up and interrupt. All the joy and weightlessness he’d been feeling up until that point vanished and he mumbled something about leaving, hoping to get away before she noticed it was him.

But typically, the universe just wasn’t on his side and Cyrus delayed him enough that he has no choice but to talk to Buffy. Cyrus’ parting words were the only thing that comforted him before he watched him walk away and he was left there with Buffy.

After he’d sorted everything out with Buffy – mainly thanks to Cyrus – he and the other boy started to hang out a lot more often.

Cyrus helped Tj with accepting his dyscalculia. Tj helped Cyrus do a somersault. They hung out at The Spoon after school when Cyrus wasn’t with Buffy and Andi. Cyrus went to all of Tj’s games and waited for him after practice with a smile and some cold water.

Sometimes Cyrus invited Tj to hang out with him, Andi, Buffy and Jonah. They went to a theme park for someone’s birthday and took photos on all the rides. Tj printed them out that night and stuck them on his wall.

Tj talked about Cyrus with his other friends. He told them how funny he was, how fun it was to hang out with him. He was fairly sure he was boring them to death and Reed made fun of him at first, but it didn’t really bother him.

Things were going well for such a long time and was learning how to be a better person. Cyrus was learning to get out of his comfort zone a little more and be more comfortable with himself. He never felt awkward or unwanted around Tj, and Tj never felt stupid or disliked around Cyrus.

But unfortunately, it was inevitable things would all go to shit. Many times. In multiple ways. Again. And again. Starting the day Cyrus met his friends.


	2. Time for some rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starting to get more angsty. Here's my take on the gun incident.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if details are inaccurate or the characterisation is off.
> 
> (I have not proofread this so if there are any mistakes here's me apologising in advance)  
> (leave kudos if you like and a comment if you're feeling extra funky!!)

The next time Tj went to the swings, he was a little bit frantic and frankly quite terrified. Not scared-of-something terrified. It’s more like his brain was going into overdrive at the thought of losing Cyrus. He couldn't believed he'd messed up this bad. He should've just left with Cyrus as soon as he'd found out about the gun. He shouldn't have let things get so out of hand. Now Cyrus probably wouldn't even want to look at him.

He sat down and scuffed his shoes against the woodchips on the ground, his head hanging low. He was too upset to swing at all.

He’d really hoped Cyrus would show up. He said he came here when he was feeling bad about himself. Although given the circumstances, it would make sense for Cyrus not to feel bad about himself. Did Cyrus feel bad about himself because of this? It wasn’t like it was his fault. It was something Tj brought upon himself. It’s true that he didn’t exactly know Reed would bring a gun along, but he possibly could’ve predicted it and he certainly should’ve left with Cyrus instead of staying behind and letting Cyrus leave all by himself.

As soon as Cyrus had ridden off, Tj had turned on Reed. He kind of… lost it a bit, yelled a lot. Seeing Cyrus’ face coloured with disappointment – aimed at him, not Reed – was enough to make Tj snap. Although looking back now, he didn’t regret what he said at the time. It was ridiculous of Reed to bring a gun. It was ridiculous of him to even take it in the first place.

Tj felt his eyes burning, but he didn’t want to cry in a place like this. It was far too public. He got up and jogged home, crashing into his bed as soon as he could. He lay on his back and stared at the roof. The tears started falling as he caught a glimpse of the photos of him and Cyrus on the wall next to his bed.

He couldn’t recall how long he laid there crying, but he knew he had to talk to Cyrus. He couldn’t leave things how they were. Even if Cyrus didn’t forgive him, trying had to be better than sitting alone, feeling like this forever.

The next morning, he tried calling Cyrus, but the call went straight to voicemail. He left a message. He left him seven texts, increasing in worry and size. All of them went ignored.

At school, he sat by himself at lunch and was ignored by Cyrus the whole day. Admittedly, he did notice Buffy and Andi steering him away a few times, but he didn’t let himself build up any hope. There was too big a chance it would just be crushed again.

Everyday he visited the swings. Usually he just sat and moped for half an hour before giving up. When Cyrus was there, he was accompanied by either Buffy, Andi, or both. They weren’t letting him go anywhere alone. He supposed it was fair seeing as he was now supposedly a threat to Cyrus, hanging out with people that stole their father’s guns.

On those days he’d walk home with his head down, nearly crashing into every streetlamp and signpost he passed. The one good thing he had going for him and he’d ruined it. Typical Tj.

 

That night he called Cyrus and it went straight to voicemail again. He sighed and thought of what he could possibly even say. _'I'm sorry I put you in such an unsafe situation with people you barely knew and left you to get home all by yourself,'_ or _'I'm sorry I didn't follow you when you left, I've regretted it ever since the moment you turned away from me,'_ or _'If you gave me another chance, I'd do better.'_

None of those apologies felt sincere enough. He didn't feel like it was enough just to apologise, or explain himself, but there wasn't a whole lot else he could do. He wondered if he could convince Buffy to talk to him and help sort everything out. Considering just how much she disliked him, he figured the odds weren't exactly in his favour. 

Cursing, he threw his pillow across the room, where it knocked over a stack of paper from his desk. he felt utterly hopeless.

 

A few more days passed and Tj kept up his texting, hoping it would have been long enough for Cyrus to at least let him talk to him. But unfortunately, every message he sent was left unanswered and all of his calls were ignored.

He came to a decision one week and three days since the incident – he would go to the swings one last time the next day after school. If Cyrus wasn’t there, he would give up and leave him alone forever. It hurt him to think of the possibility of never talking to Cyrus again, but he couldn’t keep doing this to himself.

The whole day at school passed in a blur and he found he could hardly concentrate in maths – not that he was usually able to do that. He sat by himself again and ignored the weight of his phone in his pocket that made him want to text Cyrus.

He hoped hadn’t permanently screwed things up with the only person he really cared about.


End file.
